Secret

It was finally time. After making our way back to our room, we both sat on Luna's bed. All my emotions were drowned out as all was left was my anxiety of what will happen after I tell her. Looking to my side, seeing Luna waiting patiently, I go to open my mouth.

Ellen: "T-this is serious okay. It will sound ridiculous, but I swear what I'm about to say is the truth... So don't laugh..."

Luna: "Mmm! I promise to take this seriously. I still remember the way you cried back then, so I know this is something important to you"

Ellen: "Thank you."

I have my doubts if she will still take it seriously after I say it. Reincarnation sounds ridiculous I know, but I did make a promise, and I know I'll have to tell Alice one of these days too. So, with a few moments of thinking, I take a long deep breath, exhaling my anxiety for a brief moment so I can say the next words.

Ellen: "I have memories of my past life..."

Luna: "..."

The silence didn't help as my anxiety came straight back at me, not wanting to look in Luna's direction as I just look towards the floor, trying to calm myself.

Luna: "Like, an entirely different life?"

Ellen: "Yes... From another world."

This was killing me, however hearing Luna's voice not making light of what I was saying is helping my anxiety from getting any worse.

Luna: "Another world?!"

Ellen: "Mmm. A world completely different to this one. A world where magic doesn't exist, where technology was flourishing. A world where people could soar in the sky in giant machines we called airplanes."

Luna: "People could fly there!? That's so cool!"

Luna sure was working her magic as my anxiety slowly dissipated, as I found myself opening up more, talking more about the world in a more relaxed way.

Luna: "But I can't imagine a world without magic."

Ellen: "Its, why when I was reborn here, when I learnt of the existence of magic, I desperately wanted to learn; but I could never figure it out."

Luna: "But that changed today!"

Ellen: "I guess you're right haha"

I truly was happy that I could use magic, although I still have no idea what kind of magic this is. It's more like I'm 'stealing' magic. Finally calming down enough to look to my side at Luna, I saw that she had a rather upset expression before opening her mouth.

Luna: "How... How did you die?"

Suddenly a wave of memories flooded back into my brain all at once. Memories of the pain I felt when that knife stabbed inside my stomach, the pain I saw in... Kaede's face when she found me. These memories brought me to tears as we sat on the bed, the tears sliding down my cheek before dripping onto my thighs.

Ellen: "I... I was stabbed."

Luna: "..."

Ellen: "It was actually the night of my anniversary with my partner. We had just finished our date when I heard a knock at my door. It was then that the person, who I thought was my partner, was actually the person who would end up killing me."

Luna remained silent, letting me continue the story.

Ellen: "Of course I put up a good fight, and I'm almost certain I killed him with the same knife, but... Before I passed away..."

Tears started pouring down from my face. It's been such a long time since I recalled these memories, but having to tell someone like Luna about this just makes it all the more painful, with my tears showing no signs of stopping.

Ellen: "I saw my partner, Kaede, rushing to my side. I tried my hardest to hold on, but in the end, I died, with the image of Kaede crying on me being the last thing I remember..."

Luna: "Ellen..."

Ellen: "Sorry. I know it's a lot, this is the first time I've talked about this with anyone, so it's hard to hold back the tears"

Suddenly, Luna brought her arm around my shoulder, pushing me to lean onto her as my head ends up resting on top of her shoulder, with her head resting against my head.

Luna: "You don't need to hold back Ellen. It's bad to bottle up your emotions."

Ellen: "M-mm"

I put more of my weight onto her shoulder as I let my tears fall silently, staining her uniform. We stay like this for a few moments as I take in the kindness Luna is giving me, as she gently pats my head, running her fingers through my hair.

Luna: "Hey. Can I ask you something?"

Ellen: "Mmm"

Luna: "What was your name back then?"

Wow. I've been completely used to being called Ellen that I almost forgot my name. It has been 15 years now. I remember back when I was first reborn, I hated the name 'Ellen' but now it feels like it had been my name this whole time.

Ellen: "It was Yui"

Luna: "Yui... Hehe, definitely doesn't feel like a name from this world haha. It's cute"

Hearing her say my name was cute, only reminded when I first introduced myself to Kaede. She thought it was funny that a cute name like Yui didn't suit my tomboy like appearance. Thinking back on such memories, I can't help but giggle.

Luna: "Hmm? Did I say something funny?"

Ellen: "Ah, no. I just remembered that my partner said the same thing when I first met them."

Luna: "What was he like?"

Oh god. I've come this far, do I just say it? Fuck it, no turning back at this point. I lift my head from Luna's shoulder as I collect myself to drop yet another bombshell onto Luna.

Ellen: "Actually, my partner was a girl. We met during high school, which is around the age we are now actually."

Luna: "Oh? Were you a guy back in your old world? With a name as cute as Yui, I could see why that would be funny haha."

Ellen: "N-no... I was also a girl in my old world."

Luna: "Eh?!"

Like I thought. It does seem strange in this world to be in a same sex relationship, but there is no turning back now.

Ellen: "It wasn't all that strange to be in a same sex relationship. Of course it was a minority of the population, but the world had started to recognize it."

Luna: "...Fascinating."

Ellen: "To answer your question though. She is kind, thoughtful, she appreciates things that people overlook, pretty. I found myself enchanted by her whenever I saw her tending to the school garden. And despite her frail nature, she was actually quite assertive and independent."

Luna: "She sounds like a princess hehe"

Ellen: "She was... Before I left her there, leaving me to be reborn here. If only I was stronger maybe I could still be there. We were just planning on living together... Sometimes I wonder what it would of been like..."

Luna: "So that's why you train so much every day. You don't want what had happened to repeat?"

Ellen: "Mmm"

I nod my head as she hit the nail on the head. I have no intention of letting what happened in my old world to repeat here, which was why I desperately sought to learn magic while training my body in anyway I can.

Luna: "Hey, Ellen. Would you prefer me to call you by your old name, Yui?"

Ellen: "You don't need to. Just you knowing about my old name makes me happy. It feels great to finally tell someone about this."

Luna: "Hmm. Okay! I'll stick with Ellen since it would be difficult to suddenly change haha"

Ellen: "That too haha"

We were back to laughing away. The sad atmosphere from earlier had completely disappeared, enjoying my time with Luna like this.

Ellen: "Thank you for listening. But could you keep this to yourself?"

Luna: "Mhmm! Your secret is safe with me!"

I couldn't of asked for a better friend than Luna. However, now that she knows I'm into girls, I wonder what will happen. She seemed curious when I brought it up, and didn't seemed repulsed by it. Maybe...

We continue to sit like that, resting my head back on her shoulder.

Luna: "Thank you also, for telling me something this precious to you; it makes me happy."

Ellen: "I'm planning to tell Alice about this as well"

Luna: "She'll understand. I could also come with you to tell her? You know, for extra support"

Ellen: "Mmm. I'd like that."

I actually felt comfortable now to tell Alice, but I accepted Luna's offer for an excuse to spend more time with her.

----------Luna's POV

So Ellen is into girls? I guess it does make sense. I never see her talking about guys, or interested in them at all. Same sex relationships doesn't sound bad, but isn't the point of a relationship is to make offspring for the later generation? To throw that away for the sake of being with someone of the opposite sex sounds romantic when you think of it like that.

Luna: "Hmmm"

Ellen: "Hmm?"

Luna: "Ah no nothing. Just thinking about the same sex relationship thingy."

I go to head pat Ellen once more as she rest her head against me. It was a lot of effort to say all that, so I want to make sure she is back to her happy and calm self.

Ellen: "It's weird right?"

Luna: "I agree it is weird, but I don't necessarily hate the idea. It's just the first time I've thought of such a thing. Like a relationship where you can't have children, it sort of breaks the purpose of a relationship right?"

Ellen: "Mmm, yeah you do have a point. But in my old world, the human population was growing so fast, so there wasn't a big necessity to reproduce I guess."

Luna: "I guess that's also the same here. With the demons not having attacked in such a long time. Small towns like Maemont are starting to become small cities."

Ellen: "So... Given the chance. Would you date another girl?"

Luna: "I haven't really thought of that until you brought it up haha. I do like guys though, but I will say the thought of dating another girl doesn't sound- bad?"

Ellen: "I see"

This conversation is so heavy, it's got me thinking of so many things. The fact that other worlds exist was the biggest one, but also the idea of same sex relationships. Gives me a lot to think about...